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Abstract

Recent calls for education research to adopt scientific principles have created
much debate in the education research community. Although there is a general
consensus on the value of evidence-based research to guide educational
programs and policies, researchers are posed with the challenge of conducting
research, which is regarded as rigorous and valid, in terms of a scientific inquiry.
This paper reports on how these issues may influence research that is
intentionally underpinned by evidence-based research methodology. Elements of
a research project to investigate students’ development of statistical thinking and
reasoning in an ICT environment provide examples, which illustrate how
evidence-based research can shape research practice. This is followed by a
description of a framework for the evaluation of data-analysis software. The
framework was based on theoretical frameworks from the literature on statistics
education to strengthen the internal validity of the research. It potentially
provides the opportunity to gather reliable and meaningful evidence, and
demonstrates the practical application of empirical methods to explore and
explain the complexity of real life situations.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Authors/Creators:	Fitzallen, NE and Brown, NR
Additional Information:	© 2007 the authors
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

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